A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Monday (November 17, 2025) sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death after finding them guilty of crimes against humanity over the state crackdown on a student uprising in July-August 2024.
Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who turned a witness and testified before the tribunal against Ms. Hasina and Mr. Kamal, has been sentenced to five years in prison after he admitted to his involvement in the crackdown of the protests which led to the fall of the Hasina government.
Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina condemns guilty verdict in crimes against humanity trial
[img=100%,100%]https://www.thehindu.com/theme/images/th-online/1x1_spacer.png[/img]
The verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) represents the most dramatic legal action against the Awami League leader and comes just months before the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for February. The tribunal also asked the government to provide compensation to the families of the victims and to those who were injured during the crackdown.
Attorney-General Md Asaduzzaman said Ms. Hasina, who is now in exile in India, and Mr. Kamal, who is also in exile, cannot appeal the ruling as long as they remain fugitives. He further said the court had ordered the attachment and confiscation of all properties belonging to Ms. Hasina and Mr. Kamal within Bangladesh, and that the state would take all necessary legal measures to implement the verdict.
ICT hearing updates on death sentence to ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, former Minister Kamal
Ms. Hasina said the charges are unjustified, arguing that she and Mr. Khan “acted in good faith and were trying to minimise the loss of life.”
“We lost control of the situation, but to characterise what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts,” she said on Monday in a statement. “I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”
Leaders and activists from various political and social organisations gathered outside the tribunal as the verdict was being read out. A group of students were seen at Dhaka University chanting slogans demanding the execution of Ms. Hasina. Awami League activists brought out processions across the country against the verdict. Several of them were arrested.
‘We’ll engage with all stakeholders’ in Bangladesh, says India after Sheikh Hasina verdict
[img=100%,100%]https://www.thehindu.com/theme/images/th-online/1x1_spacer.png[/img]
Shortly after the verdict, Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (Retd) Jahangir Alam alleged that attempts are being made “from a neighbouring country” to destabilise Bangladesh’s security and law‑and‑order situation.
“We urge the government of India to immediately extradite the two convicts to the Bangladeshi authorities,” Dhaka’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was “an obligatory responsibility for India”. Bangladesh warned that “granting asylum to these convicts... would be extremely unfriendly and an affront to justice.”
Analysis: Why Hasina fell
[img=100%,100%]https://www.thehindu.com/theme/images/th-online/1x1_spacer.png[/img]
The Awami League denounced the ruling. “We reject this illegal and politically motivated verdict of the ‘Kangaroo Court’ against Bangabandhu’s daughter, the leader of the people and the President of the Awami League. We hope that the people of Bangladesh will reject this verdict. We will establish the rule of law in the country by releasing [Muhammad] Yunus very soon,” Awami League organising secretary Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel told The Hindu. “Immediately after hearing the verdict, we requested our leaders and activists to be patient, our leaders and activists are not afraid of this verdict at all.”
Ahead of the verdict, a group of protesters claiming affiliation with an organisation called “Red July” brought two excavators to demolish the remaining portions of the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi-32 in Dhaka. Army and police charged batons on the protesters. Sound grenades were lobbed to disperse the crowd.
In response to the verdict, Chief Prosecutor of the tribunal, Mohammad Tajul Islam, said Bangladesh has successfully conducted the judicial process. Speaking at the Tribunal on Monday (November 14, 2025), Mr. Islam said: “Bangladesh is capable of trying complex crimes such as crimes against humanity while maintaining all international norms and standards, and the country has done so successfully. If this evidence was presented in any court globally, all the accused who have been punished today would receive the same sentences.”
Asif Nazrul, Adviser for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of the Interim Government, described the death sentences as a landmark move for the establishment of justice. He said the government will once again write to India to secure Ms. Hasina’s repatriation.
Bangladesh urges Indian government to hand over Hasina, former Minister Kamal
[img=100%,100%]https://www.thehindu.com/theme/images/th-online/1x1_spacer.png[/img]
Salahuddin Ahmed, member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) standing committee, believes the verdict represents the establishment of justice. “This trial and this verdict set an example for the days to come,” he said. Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Golam Porwar said the verdict fulfills the “public aspirations” of 180 million people. “It was our demand that the interim government complete the trial of these heinous crimes against humanity before the election.”
A total of five charges have been brought against Ms. Hasina and the two other accused in the case. Out of the five charges brought against Ms. Hasina, the Tribunal has sentenced her to death in four and to life imprisonment in one. These charges include: delivering inciting speeches; ordering the elimination of protesters using lethal weapons; the shooting and killing of Abu Said, a student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur; the shooting and killing of six protesters in the Chankharpul area of the capital; and the killing of six people by burning them in Ashulia. |
